Voices from the Distant Stars
by sunnysideup09
Summary: One girl was enough to handle... but now three? Sakura had a critical shock which ultimately split her personality. Now it's Naruto's turn to uncover the missing piece of the puzzle, but he's also in for a shock of his life as well.
1. The Night at the Restaurant

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, and I certainly do not own any of its characters, places, etc., etc.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this story. Criticisms are welcome (but no flamming please). Thank you, and have fun. R & R.

* * *

These days, Naruto somehow always ended up in the hospital after another grueling mission. It wasn't all that bad being in the hospital; he was able to see his friends come and go by, especially Sakura. But today, Sakura was no where out of sight. Instead, Hinata appeared. It was unusual since the girl never came to visit him, or so he thought.

"Man, stuck indoors when it's another perfect day to train," Naruto said. "At least you're here with me, Hinata."

"Um, yes…., I'm here… and you're there, Naruto-kun," Hinata said awkwardly as she pulled the curtains. She was blushing madly. Nonetheless, Naruto didn't mind it at all since he was used to her unusal habits. The sun was in their faces.

"I wonder where Sakura-chan could be," Naruto whispered, looking up at the high and white ceiling. "I haven't seen her since the day I was put into the hospital."

Hinata stopped pulling the curtains. Her hands slid down on the soft fabric, and her clear, light violet eyes were slightly turned to him. She tightened her lips, and clenched onto the curtain. The good news was Naruto was too busy pondering, so he wasn't able to see what Hinata was going through. She turned around and smiled brightly at him.

"I'm sure she's fine," Hinata said hesitantly. "Perhaps busy…."

"Really? But she's always the first one to see me around," Naruto said, clueless. Just then, the door slid open, and Naruto saw high heeled sandals appear.

"Sakura…!" Naruto said, but after seeing who's face and chest appeared, his anticipation suddenly disintegrated.

"Oh, it's old lady Tsunade," he said unenthusiastically.

"Who are you calling old, you ungrateful brat?!" Tsunade yelled.

"How troublesome," another voice said, appearing behind the tall, beautiful woman.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto said, and then he saw another bulgy figure emerge from the door. "Choji, what are you guys doing here?"

"We just came to see you since you're out of here today," Shikamaru exclaimed. His lazy expression never changed much. Choji just munched on his beef flavored chips.

"Hey, hey," Naruto said, lightening his face. "Do you know where Sakura-chan is?"

The sudden joy was swept away as the faces of each individual looked at each other for words hesitantly. Tsunade was the first one to speak.

"She's busy working so you won't be able to see her in a while," she said. "You're dismissed from the hospital!"

"Oh, okay," Naruto replied, not noticing everyone's troubled looks. He was busy wondering about Sakura.

* * *

The sun was high up in the sky like every other day. Feeling the warmth, Naruto closed his eyes with his head held high up. The soft breeze caressed his cheeks and ran through his gold hair. Another good day….

He was thinking of going to the Ichiraku bar, and was about to turn his one foot away from the road. But in the distance, he caught the glimpse of the soft, pink pastel colored hair flowing in the breeze. He could recognize that color from miles apart.

"Ah, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled and ran towards her. But before he knew it, the girl turned around, gave him a quick glance, and punched him right in the stomach.

"Uck!" Naruto yelled painfully. The punch threw him right to the wall, which could have almost destroyed the whole building.

"Sakura… chan….," Naruto stuttered, clutching on to his belly in pain. He looked at her distortedly. The soft breeze that had stopped a moment ago was crossing the street again, passing by the pink haired figure. The girl stared at him coldly. It wasn't a spiteful one, nor a hateful look, but more of an annoyed, disgusted look. She was walking away now.

"Wait…. Sakura…," Naruto said. The pain was excruciating.

The last thing he saw was a faint, blurred vision of Sakura walking further away from him until she was barely seen.

* * *

"Back so soon?"

Naruto's eyes slowly slid open, and Shikamaru was there, sitting on a stool right next to him. Quickly, he sprang up, but the familiar pain pressed against his stomach.

"Ow, ouch…," Naruto grunted, holding his stomach with his right hand. "Shikamaru, what are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same question," he said. "Seriously, what happened to you? The villagers found you sprawled on the ground after they heard a huge thud. The right behind you had cracks all over it, or so they said."

"I….," he said, trying to recall the moment. Just then, the door slid open, and in came Sakura with a smile.

"Naruto, I heard that you were in the hospital again," she said. "You moron, should you really get into fights after a gruesome mission?"

"Sakura-chan…," Naruto said, but at that moment, the light bulb in his head flickered. "Sakura-chan, it was you!"

"Of course, it's me," she said, fluffing his pillow and smiling sweetly. "Don't you recognize me?"

"No, what I meant was that you….," he tried to say, but looking at her face clearly, he started to hesitate. "Never mind…."

"Okay then," Sakura said, staring at Naruto awkwardly. "Tsunade-sama told me not to bother you, but I wanted to see how you were doing today anyways since you are back in the hospital."

"Baa-chan… told…?" Naruto said curiously. 'Did she lie to me?' he thought. 'But why would baa-chan not let Sakura see me?'

"She said that you'll be fine in another week," she said. "I'll be off. You best be taking care of yourself."

"Yeah…," Naruto said, staring at her almost blankly and dazed.

* * *

It didn't even take him a week to get out of the hospital. Only three days was good enough. Naruto healed fast, and he felt refreshed. Still, the thought of Tsunade lying to him still rang in his mind. Crossing his arms, he continued walking on the busy road. People lightly brushed past him.

"Why would she do that," Naruto whispered to himself. "It just doesn't make any sense." Also, he was wondering why Sakura had punched him so hard to the point where he almost smashed into the wall and then acted as if nothing had happened afterwards.

"Naruto!" the sweet, sing-song voice called out to him. He froze in one space, and felt the chills crawl on his spine.

'Eek, Sakura-chan…?' Naruto thought.

"Oi, Naruto, what the heck is wrong with you?" Sakura said as she slapped Naruto's back lightly. He quickly, and stiffly, turned around. Facing her, beads of sweat started to roll down on his cheeks.

"Huh, are you alright?" she said as she put her hands on his forehead. "Huh, slight raise in temperature… you're not sick, are you?"

"Of course not, Sakura-chan!" Naruto replied as fast as the lightning. Sakura stared at him as if he was from another planet, but then later made a sly smile.

"Of course, an energetic idiot like you doesn't get sick too much, huh?" she burst out laughing.

"Sakura-chaan… that's way too much," Naruto said with his head slowly slumming down. However, he was glad. She seemed like the normal Sakura-chan that he knew well. He loosened up like he usually did in front of her.

"So… uh, Sakura-chan, do you want to go out on a date?" he asked, putting on his usual idiot grin. Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"I'm really busy, Naruto. Besides, shouldn't you be training or something?" she said, giving him a small sting to the heart.

"Then, after sunset.....!"

"Oh, come on, you idiot. Don't be so silly. Here," Sakura said as she took out a slip of paper from a book she was carrying. "We're having a Rookie 9 reunion party at the restaurant."

"Hey, how come I didn't get one?" Naruto scratched his head and took the invitation slip.

"Because we all made a reservation at the restaurant for today, but you happened to end up in the hospital three days ago. We tried to change the schedule because of you, but the restaurant lady said no," Sakura told him. "Well, luckily, now that you are out here a-okay, it would be great if you can make it there. Well, see you later."

"Wait, Sakura-chan!"

"Yeah?" she turned around.

"Do you know why I ended up at the hospital again?" he asked, wanting her to tell him the truth. Instead, the wrong answer came out of her mouth.

"I don't know specifically, but I heard that you got into a fight. Tsunade-sama told me," she said pleasantly. "Listen, I really have got to go. I'll see you soon." And then, she left without anything else for him. She left him there, shocked. He clenched onto the tiny slip of paper.

'Why is everyone lying….?' Naruto thought.

* * *

"Choji, slow down! You're definitely going to choke on a piece of meat one of these days…," Ino sighed.

Many of the Rookie 9 members, including Sai, sat in a large room, grilling meat, laughing and eating. Some couldn't make it, like Neji, Shino, and Tenten, who were off on a sudden assigned mission. Ino was awfully chummy with Sai while Shikamaru sighed and muttered how troublesome girls were under one single breath. Choji was, as usual, busy eating, and Rock Lee, inspired by this began to eat a lot as well. Hinata sat next to Naruto, fidgeting with her fingers and blushing madly. Kiba sat next to Hinata, sighing and noting the fact on how clueless Naruto can be. Sakura came in late, and sat near where Naruto was sitting.

"So we're all here," Ino said as she piled pieces of meat on a small dish. "This is for you Sai!"

"Uh, thank you," Sai replied back politely, putting on a smile.

"Hey, those were mine, Ino!" Choji whined, but after Ino gave him a sharp glance, he backed away slowly and started to throw in more meat on the grills fast.

"Anyways, let the party begin!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto, you idiot, sit down and eat!" Sakura yelled furiously, and he obeyed quickly. Sakura's scary methods worked many times on him.

'Well she's got him whipped,' Shikamaru thought and sat there quietly, observing.

"Uh, Naruto-kun, here," Hinata said as she silently passed a small dish full of cooked meat to Naruto. She was able to overcome her nerves just for this moment. Still, she had tints of pink on her pale cheeks.

"Wow, gee Hinata thanks!" Naruto replied with his usual energetic gesture. "This is for you." He passed her some meat as well.

'Naruto-kun….!' Hinata's cheeks were flushed. She suddenly felt very hot, and she wanted to take off her jacket. But before she could do anything, Hinata fainted backwards.

"Uhh… Hinata," Naruto said, shaking her arms. "Hinata?"

"Oi, oi, why do you always faint like this when Naruto's around?" Kiba asked the rhetorical question.

While this was going on, Sakura sat in her seat, bored and observing Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata. Truthfully, Naruto paying attention to Hinata somewhat irritated her.

"Hey, Sakura-san," Lee said out of the sudden, catching her attention. "Would you like me to pour you some water?"

"Uh, thank you, Lee," Sakura replied politely. She handed him her cup, and he took a small, metal kettle full of hot water. Slowly, he poured it and gratefully she drank it.

And so, for an hour, this affair had continued. More meat was brought in; Ino flirted with Sai and growled at Choji. Shikamaru sat there smiling at their silly nonsensical business, and Hinata took care of Naruto, until to the point where Ino made a good remark about it.

"So Hinata, you're getting awfully chummy with Naruto there," she said slyly. Hinata blushed again in embarrassment.

"Is it so…," Hinata whispered with her head slummed down. She averted Ino's cerulean eyes full of curiosity and jest.

"Ah, Naruto, you are one awfully lucky guy then," Ino shouted sprightly. This only made Naruto slightly tilt his head sideways.

"Lucky? What do you mean by that?" he asked. Clueless as ever.

"Oh you are so naïve, huh," Ino said.

"Huh?" Naruto said. "What's so funny?" At that moment, everyone except Sakura had burst out laughing. Suddenly, they all heard a loud slam. Sakura's fist was firmly rooted to the table.

"I'm going out for some fresh air," she snapped. She stood up, slid the door open, and walked out.

"What's with her?" Kiba said.

"Oh, that Ino-pig, being stupid as ever," Sakura let her anger out in the corridor. She was marching madly across the hallway. "That little freak! Who does she think she is anyways?" Then, she stopped, realizing what she was doing.

'And yet, why did I get mad over that? It was no big deal… just a light joke, is all,' Sakura thought. 'Maybe I just need a break…?'

She walked to the nearest ladies room to freshen up. The washroom was neat and clean, at its best. She walked to the sink, slowly twisted the sink tap, and held her hand under the flowing, cool water. She splashed some water on her face, and repeated the procedure two to three times.

_Splash, splash…. _

The water was still running, and she caught a glimpse of her face on the large, rectangular mirror. Sakura stared at herself closely. She saw herself in there, with her usual pastel pink hair and emerald green eyes. Water was dripping down on her cheeks and at the strands of her hair. Suddenly, in the reflection, she caught herself slowly winking back.

'Wh-what…?' Sakura thought. She peered into the mirror again. She thought that the dim light was playing tricks with her reflection.

But there it was again, another wink.

Just then, she felt a huge pang in her head. There was another pang after the first one, and another one after five seconds. She slid down on the floor, holding her head tightly with both of her hands. She bent down, trying to think clearly. Still, there was more of the pang, and each of the pang grew faster and louder than the previous one.

She wanted to call out for help, but it felt as if someone was holding her tongue....

* * *

"Where is that girl? She's been gone for about half an hour now," Ino said, worried about what might've happened to her friend.

"I'll look for her," he said, already putting on his shoes.

Out in the hall, Naruto heard people laughing inside the rooms. Some were quiet laughs, and some were loud and boisterous. Through the opaque, thin, white wooden doors, he could see the silhouettes of each people. While walking around with his wandering pool blue eyes, he came across an old service lady, holding a tray of cups and side dishes.

"Uh, excuse me lady," he said, stopping her tiny walks. "Do you know a girl named Sakura-chan?"

"Sakura-chan? I've never heard of that name before, young man," the tiny old woman spoke.

"Um, well, she's about this tall, she's really pretty…. And she has pink hair with green eyes and fair skin," Naruto told her.

"Oh, yes, her. She's quite the partier, that girl," the old woman remarked with a chuckle. "I'm just taking this tray to where she is right now. Would you like to come?"

"What? She's in another room?" Naruto said. Confused, he followed her. It was a bit of a long walk, with few crooked corners. But they soon stopped, and Naruto noticed that they were standing at the very end of the hallway, where shouts and burst of laughter and voices boomed out of each room. Where they stood, that room was particularly the noisiest.

"Well, this is it. We're here," the lady said as she set the tray down on the ledge. Naruto was still confused, doubting that Sakura could ever be intermingled in these kinds of places. But when the old lady opened the sliding door, there was Sakura, standing and dancing wildly in front of him. Around her sat men in their 30's and 40's, each with women in their arms.

"Here's your order, lass. Enjoy," the old women said and left. The pink haired lass quickly snatched up the cups and started pouring the drinks into it. The men laughed as she drank, and the women giggled.

"What the heck do you think you're doing, Sakura?!" Naruto yelled. "You can't even drink!"

The girl stared at him blankly, and the laughter stopped. Lights illuminated from behind the white paper doors, and those lights highlighted Naruto's anger.

But she didn't seem to care. Instead, she sat down on the floor with a thud, dug her hands into a man's kimono, and retrieved a cigarette pack. She flicked the pack open with her thumb, took out a stick of thin cigarette, and stuck it between her cherry lips. She made a quick hand gesture, and a man lit her cigarette. She smoked like a pro.

Naruto just couldn't believe it with his own eyes.

She put her feet up on the table and began to draw small puff with her lips. She ignored him and hoisted her cup high to the ceiling. With that, all the men and women in the room shouted, "Banzai!" and drank away.

"That's it," Naruto said as he took off his shoes and climbed up the ledge. He ignored the drunks, the smokers, and the tables full of food there. He cleared it all aside and grabbed Sakura's right arm. He pulled her up.

"What's the big idea, loser," Sakura slurred at him. He could smell the alcohol on her breath. She drank way too much.

"Sakura-chan, we're leaving," he said. "Come on, Sakura-chan. Let's get out of here."

"Who the hell do you think you are," she shouted. "Stupid kid, let go of me."

"What, stupid kid?" Naruto shouted back in surprise. She grinned at him.

"Oh… yeah, you are _that_ stupid kid… the one that I punched earlier," she said slowly, nibbling the cigarette between her teeth. "What, you wanna fight me? Huh, punk? Wanna fight?"

The drunken men and women laughed at the scene. Naruto was flushed with embarrassment while Sakura riled them up by pushing Naruto to the wall.

"Listen you lil' punk," Sakura said quietly, leaning over him. "Get outta here before I give you another knocker… this time, to your head."

"Sakura-chan, snap out of it. This isn't like you," he whispered sternly, staring hard into her leaf green eyes. She stared hard back at his pool blue eyes, but laughed hard in his face. She clumsily sat back down again, puffing away on her little cigarette.

"That bitch? You want that little bitch out here?" she chuckled. "What do you see in that stupid moron anyways? She complained about a headache, so I took care of her."

Naruto stared at her with confusion.

"What are you talking about, Sakura-chan?" he said, lost in translation.

"I'm not your bitch, dipstick," the girl told him slyly.

Chills ran down his spine.

"Then… who are you?" he asked quietly, almost as if he was in a funeral home. The girl blew a cloud of smoke in his face. He coughed.

"Haruka," she grinned.


	2. Who's that?

_

* * *

_

**Author's Note:** Hello again, it's me. I wasn't going to continue on if there weren't any reviews, but I think I want this to go on. I really planned it all out. Well, things might get a bit more strange from this point on but I'll try to make it more interesting. Thank you, and see you later~! R&R

* * *

_Naruto stared at her with confusion._

"_What are you talking about, Sakura-chan?" he said, lost in translation._

"_I'm not your bitch, dipstick," the girl told him slyly._

_Chills ran down his spine._

"_Then… who are you?" he asked quietly, almost as if he was in a funeral home. The girl blew a cloud of smoke in his face. He coughed._

"_Haruka," she grinned._

* * *

The girl sat back down carelessly and smoked like there was no yesterday. She put her feet up again on the table and crossed it. Her slender back was leaning against the dark yellow wall, and the dim room light glossed over her pretty rose colored hair. No matter how much he observed and stared at her blankly with his mouth open, that girl, that audacious, boisterous, insolent girl was Sakura. Still, watching her smoke coolly on the floor with that mischievous, sinister grin made him second that.

Finally, after a few minutes of staring and causing an awkward mood in the room, Naruto sternly said, "Okay, what the hell did you do with Sakura?"

"I told you, I'm Haruka, idiot," the girl muttered, cussing under her breath. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows and gritted his teeth. For the first time in his life, Sakura was beginning to get under his skin. He was still confused, but was a little sure that this person was not Sakura.

"Listen, you imposter," he said, grabbing her arm again, this time, tighter. "You better fess up about it or I'll beat the answers out of…"

But before he could finish, she twisted his hand with her other free arm. Naruto yelped in pain. The girl leaned over to his left ear carefully, as if she was going to tell him a good secret.

"Rule number one," the pink haired spunk whispered, but her voice seemed to rise in crescendo. "Don't… ever… touch me!!!!" With that, she furiously tossed Naruto to the right wall with only one hand. He didn't even have any time to scream; she was way too quick. After a loud bang, he slid down to the floor, landing on his head.

'Ow…,' he thought. He didn't want to know what the next rules were. But she was coming toward him, and he could see that in his upside-down vision. She stopped right in front of his head and crossed her arms. She stood there like a gangster with a sinister grin printed on her face. He didn't like the look on her face. Smiling back, he added a nervous chuckle, and she chuckled back evilly. She stooped down, took out the cigarette that she had between her lips, and mashed the burning end on his forehead.

"Now," she said, twisting the cigarette around. "Rule number two: refer to me as Haruka-sama, capiche?"

"Sakura, snap out of it!" Naruto said, feeling the singe on the middle of his forehead. He winced from the pain, and tried not to give in to her little amusement.

"Hey, hey, now…," a man back at the table slurred, "Give the poor lad a break, won't ya? We're tryin' to enjoy a good drink here!"

There was a small pause in the room.

"What… did you say…?" the girl now named Haruka said. Her back was turned away from the drunks. Her posture was suddenly stiff, almost as if she was frozen.

"I said…."

"I don't give a damn!!!" the violent girl shouted as she violently turned around and flipped over the traditional Japanese cuisine table full of food and drinks. The women in the room screamed, and the men backed away to the wall. The girl stood up, cracking her neck and her knuckles, her face painted in vivid descriptions of violence and mischief.

"Now, who wants to go first?" she said with an evil smile plastered on her pretty doll face.

Fear ran through the room.

* * *

"Oh, where is that Naruto and Sakura? They've been gone for hours now, and we don't even know where they are! We checked every room in this building." Ino shouted as she busily bustled throughout the hallway. Shouts and bursts of laughter flowed through each rooms with thin paper pocket doors. The silhouettes of those people in the room were full of life and energy. They looked like puppet shows, except rowdier.

"I hope they are okay…," Hinata whispered, and Kiba put his hand on her shoulder.

"Cheer up," he comforted her. "They couldn't have gone too far. It's just a restaurant."

"Still, for them to go away for so long….," Sai said with his usual tone and face. This made everyone worry even more.

"I am sure that they are both fine. I have full confidence in Naruto-kun," Lee tried to reassure everyone. "Besides, it is not like they have gone home together, right?"

Everyone briefly paused in the middle of the hallway. Another burst of laughter came through from another room, and they all snapped back to reality. They walked again.

"I'm sure they are fine…," Ino gritted as they were nearing to the end of the hallway. "We haven't checked this end of the hallway yet." Ino, though, already doubted that Sakura and Naruto could be in this hallway. The rooms at the end of the hallway were full of low-class businessmen, rowdy drunks, and sometimes, useless local gangs.

Suddenly…!

"Get up!"

"That's Sakura's voice!" Ino shouted, running to the room at the very end of the hall. Quickly, they all rushed to the room where the voice was coming from, even though they doubted that Sakura could ever be in there. Rushing, Ino hurried and opened the pocket door, and slowly but surely, Sakura was in there.

"Forehead girl, what the heck are you doing in there?!" Ino shouted. The rest of the gang scouted the room with their eyes. The room was a mess. It had tables turned, food all over the floor, and trembling girls in every corner who tried to get out as soon as the door was opened.

"She's crazy, that girl is crazy!!!" one girl shouted as she ran out of the room with the rest of her buddies.

They were all shocked to see what had happened in the room. But they were even more shocked to see around seven men kneeling in front of Sakura with their arms raised to the sky. Naruto just sat carelessly in the opposite corner with nothing but blankness drawn upon his face.

"Save us, please…!" one man in a kimono shouted. Sakura conked him on the head with her fist.

"Hey, hey, shush…!" the sprightly girl said threateningly, and then turned to the Rookie 9 and shouted, "If you have no business here, then get lost."

Ino and the rest of the gang started to climb up the ledge. Hinata and Kiba crawled over to Naruto to check his condition.

"Naruto… Naruto-kun? Are you okay?" Hinata whispered, worried. Naruto slowly raised his head up, turned to the indigo haired girl and smiled weakly.

"Dandy…," he replied.

"Please… save us. She's crazy! She's going to beat us up and kill us!" another man shouted in plea. Tears were forming in his eyes. Mercilessly, Sakura raised her fist and conked every men kneeling on their heads. She kept repeating the procedure about two times until Ino grabbed her wrist.

"Sakura, what has gotten into you?! This isn't like you. Let's go home, okay?" Ino said. Sakura started to laugh and forcefully pulled her arms away from Ino's grasp.

"Sakura…? Geez, she sure has some friends, especially this ugly dumb blonde one right here," the girl nastily quipped.

"What?! Why you little….!" Ino shouted as she raised her fists up in the air. Rock Lee and Choji quickly grabbed her away before she could pounce onto Sakura and shred her.

"What do you mean by that?" Sai asked, ignoring Ino's animated fit of rage, punching sound effects, and Choji's head flying up at the background.

"What do you mean by what?" the pink haired lass hissed.

"Well, you said, 'Geez, she sure has some friends...' Why are you implying yourself in third person, or as if you are not you, Sakura?"

Sakura scoffed and rubbed the bottom of her nose with her index finger.

"Sharp kid, here…I'm Haruka," she answered him with a mischievous grin. "Say, you're lookin' hot. Wanna go out? The night's still young."

"Sa…ku…ra!!!" Ino shouted angrily. "Snap out of it! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Look, I already told that stupid looking blond boy back there, I took care of her. Don't bother calling her out again, okay? Because she won't answer back," she said, and then noticing that the men who were kneeling were trying to crawl away, she kicked one of them in the groin. The rest of them quickly went back to their places, whimpering and kneeling, while that one unfortunate guy rolled around the ground, groaning in pain.

Everyone stared at each other in confusion. Suddenly, Sai swiftly made his way behind Sakura in the speed of light.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this…," he said, and lightly touched her shoulder. Sakura soon fell to the ground. Seeing this, the joy spread throughout each of the abused men on the floor.

"We're free now!!! Run away!!!" the kneeling men shouted as they tried to grasp their balance, tumbling down on to the ledge and crawling away.

* * *

The sun was held high up in the crystal blue sky. There were no hints of clouds, and the birds roamed and danced freely into the distance. Ray of lights from the sun streamed down into one hospital room, where Naruto laid down on the bed unconscious. As soon as one light hit Naruto, his fingers started to slowly move.

"So he's okay, after all," a mellow voice said. Naruto's eyes started to twitch and slowly open. Wondering who it was, he turned his head to where the voice came from. A tall, lean figure with a green flap jacket and jet black hair was leaning against the wall. It was Shikamaru.

"These days, I always seem to wake up in the hospital…," Naruto groaned as he rubbed his sore head. "What happened last night?"

"You went out cold in that restaurant," Shikamaru explained. "Do you remember anything?"

Naruto rubbed his head a little harder, trying to reclaim the lost memories. His back was also hurting a little. Finally, he said, "Yeah, a bit. I went to this one noisy room and… Sakura-chan! She was dancing wilding and smoking and drinking. Then she beat me up in front of those drunken jerks. I've never seen her move that quickly before…"

Shikamaru grabbed a seat on the nearby stool. He crossed his arms with his head stooped down. His eyes were closed, as if he was concentrating.

"You know, I've heard news about Sakura a while back when you were in the hospital for three months…"

"I was in the hospital for three months?!"

"Just be quiet and listen," Shikamaru shot back coolly. "Anyways, while you were knocked out cold for three months, Sakura had been sometimes seen by the neighbors. They said she had been roaming around the neighborhood late at night, singing and drinking. Sometimes they saw her talk to some strange old guys and walking away with them. Once or twice, someone vandalized apartment buildings by putting some weird symbols with spray paint. They think it was Sakura, but they have no proof of that whatsoever…"

"Wait, why was I in the hospital for three months?" Naruto asked. He was shocked to realize that he was in there all this time.

Shikamaru sighed. "Don't you remember? Me, you, and few of the chunins and jonins were out on a mission…." He tried to continue on, but a small sparrow with a note tied around its leg was pecking on the window. Shikamaru slowly unfolded his crossed arms and abruptly got off the stool.

"I'll have to go. As if Tsunade can't get off my back for one sec… If you want to see Sakura, she's in the hospital too. It's room 403." Shikamaru said and quickly left. Naruto stared at Shikamaru's back, full of unanswered questions in his mind…

First thing was first – Naruto decided to go see Sakura. Sakura though… only the image of the girl called Haruka ran through his mind. Her violent actions, her slick moves and trash talk was all that passed through his eyes. He was wondering if Sakura finally went mad, or she was stressed. He couldn't think anymore.

Without much effort, he made it to room 403. But just before he could twist the door knob to enter, he heard voices. First there was a shout.

"Sakura, you went pretty far! Partying with strangers and then beating them up?! What the hell is wrong with you?"

There was a brief silence, and then the same voice spoke again.

"You are definitely one of a kind. You even beat up Naruto to the point where he finally got knocked out."

Another silence…

"I'm going out," the voice said. Naruto quickly removed himself from leaning against the door. No sooner or later, Ino emerged, storming out of the room. She didn't notice Naruto sitting in the corner. Silently, Naruto made his way toward the door. But before his hands could reach the door knob, he heard her voice.

"What is wrong with me….," she whispered, though it was audible enough to hear. The door was barely closed, and Naruto could see through the small closure the lonely figure sitting on the bed, bent down. Her hands were covering her face. The room was still a little dark, due to the curtains covering the window. He wanted to go in there was push the curtains away. That was the first thing that he wanted to do so badly. But his fingers barely even touched the cold metal knob. It slowly pulled itself away from the door. And then, without even realizing, Naruto was pulling himself away from the room, the corridors, the hallways….

* * *

Tsunade was sitting on her desk, unrolling the scrolls and getting past the heavy paper works. Today was busier that before, and she was absolutely furious.

"Grr, one of these days… more paper works…," she grumbled, biting the end of her pencil and then snapping it in half. Then, there came a knock on the door…

"Ugh, can't you come in later?! I'm busy!" Tsunade yelled, but it was ignored. Naruto emerged from the door.

"What do you want… can't you come back later?" Tsunade said, but Naruto stood there firmly.

"You are hiding something from me," he snapped. "What are you hiding from me now?"

"So what are your questions?" Tsunade sighed and took a pause as she gathered her hands together, letting her elbows rest on the wooden desk. "I was expecting this anyways…"

"Why was I knocked out for three months? How did that happen?" Naruto rushed in, not giving her the chance to say anything more. Tsunade sighed again, wondering if Naruto's fury would ever cool down. She closed her eyes for a moment, and then reopened them again.

"When you woke up about a week ago, who was right beside you?" Tsunade asked.

"Hinata, but what does that have to do with anything….,"

"That was exactly about three months then…," she whispered, flipping her blonde mane that hadn't been kept well due to busy schedules and procrastination. She stared at him again with anticipation. "Then Naruto let me ask you another thing. Who is Sasuke?"

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Who is Sasuke…? Yeah, who's that?" he answered back. Then, he shook his head and rubbed his forehead with his bare right hand. "What does this have to do with anything, Tsunade baa-chan?"

Tsunade tightened her crimson lips. She was afraid that this moment would come. She clasped her rested hands tighter.

"About three months ago, you were on a mission with few jonins and chunins. According to the reports I've heard from," Tsunade said, placing her right hand on the stacked pile of paper. "Your head had been critically hit. The details were not clear, but when a group of jonins found you, you were already losing lots of blood and consciousness."

"Sakura-chan…. What about Sakura-chan?" Naruto muttered quietly, but his eyes and hands were starting to shake.

"She was fine at that time, though she was found unconscious too. She wasn't in a critical condition like you, however…," she replied carefully, trying to grasp the words with her tongue. "When she woke up in the hospital after the mission, she began to acquire strange habits. Sometimes, I received reports about her troublemaking. Sometimes, she acted as if she was the total polar opposite of herself.

"If you can't remember who Sasuke is, then I cannot help you any further. Just forget about what I said. Anyways, I will try, however, to help you reclaim your memories that you lost."

Crumpling his face a little more, Naruto clenched his fists, making them into two airless balls.

"She called herself Haruka…," he whispered.

"What…?"

"That's not all… she acted as if she was someone else, someone that was not her. That girl last night, Haruka… Sakura called herself Haruka. She wasn't herself…"

Tsunade's eyebrows were raised, and her ears were perked.

"Haruka, you say…?"

Naruto nodded once. Tsunade began to grit her teeth.

"This is bad…," the blond woman said as she began to clench on her pencil tighter. She stared at Naruto again directly. "So you still have no clue what happened at that mission three months ago?"

"I told you, I don't even know why I was in the hospital for three months. And who is Sasuke?" he answered back directly. Tsunade sat still with thoughts racing in her head.

"Sakura is sick," Tsunade quietly added. "She is unwell."

"Sick? How…?"

"Have you ever heard of dissociative identity disorder, Naruto?" he shook in a tiny motion and cocked his head downwards. She continued on.

"It's a rare condition where a person has multiple identities and personalities while interacting with others in the social environment."

"What does that supposed to mean," Naruto said in confusion.

"It's like having a lollipop that has few other distinct tastes," she sighed. Naruto's face lightened a little with insight.

"Unfortunately, Sakura happens to fall into this category. I tried to cover it up by not telling you. Few ninjas know what's happening to Sakura. Boy, I never thought I would be able to see this day…"

"Then how can we cure her? Do you have a good medicine for this?" Naruto hurried along.

"No, there isn't any medicine that could cure her instantly. This is a mental problem, so it hadn't been thoroughly researched. In fact, few people in this world who are diagnosed with this condition still live with it…"

Naruto's head drooped down, his cerulean eyes pooling in anger and dissatisfaction. He clenched his fists tighter and tighter.

"If I could only remember what happened then…," he stated with his shaking voice. "If I could… I could save her…"

"Don't beat yourself up," Tsunade quietly added. "Look, I'll find a good cure, though this isn't my specialty. In the mean time, I have another mission for you!"

"Huh, what is it?" Naruto raised his head. Not now… just not right now.

"Your mission is to protect Sakura," she roared. "Don't let her get out of your sight at all times. Of course, you may leave her alone when she returns back to her house. Other than that, stay on guard for her!"

"And that's my mission…?"

"Yes, until we can cure her," Tsunade said. "You won't have any other mission than this." Her tone was final, and although Naruto oppose, Sakura was in his mind.

* * *

After Naruto left the hokage's office, he wandered around the streets, dazed and confused. How could there be an illness like that in the world? It didn't make sense, but he tried to swallow it in. From the last night experience, he realized that Sakura might not be all that she could be for now.

He thought of heading home, but a voice called out to him.

"Naruto!"

He bent his head a little to the side. His eyes caught a glimpse of pink in the air.

"Sakura-chan," he turned toward her. She ran to him and stopped, trying to catch her breath.

"I was trying to catch up to you," she said breathlessly with her hands on her knees. "I saw you coming out of Tsunade-sama's office, and I wondered if you had any other missions coming up…"

He stared at her hard, but his eyes drawled in gentleness.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," he said. He wanted to ask her, but stopped before he could continue. Instead, he lightened his face with his goofy grin and said, "Yeah, I have a mission. It starts right now, but I have to do it alone."

"Huh, really…? Am I also included in this mission as well?"

Yeah, you_ are_ the mission; he wanted to say, but instead, he answered, "Maybe."

"I really have nothing to do these days. Tsunade-same told me to relax, which is unusual."

"That's nice," he muttered, but a shooting pain in his back started to grow. He fell on his knees with one hand on his spine.

"Naruto? Naruto, what's wrong?!" Sakura shouted, stooping down beside him. She carefully examined his back with her gentle hands. Finally, she came to a conclusion with a relieved sigh.

"It's not a big problem. It seems as though you've kind of put some kind of strain to it," Dusting herself, she stood up and also helped him stand. "You'll be fine alone. What the heck did you do to yourself?!"

"You…," he was going to say that she threw him to the wall twice, but changed his mind quickly. "I trained too hard, I guess…" She furrowed her brows in suspicion, but left it at that.

"Well, be careful. Really, you are so stupid, Naruto," she added with a gentle smile. "Ah, I have to go to the library. I said that I would come by to pick up some books there to the librarian."

The library. He never liked studying, but instead, he said, "I'm going there too!"

"Really?" she raised her brows. "That's surprising, for a guy like you."

"I think I'll sign out some books too," he lied. She blankly stared at him and narrowed her eyes. But with a quick nod, she began to walk, and he soon followed her. While walking beside her, he asked her a question.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, do you know a person named Sasuke?"

She stared at him strangely.

"Sasuke? Who's that?" she said, and kept on walking.


	3. Haruka

The books were now at a staggering height. Trying to keep his balance and the books in neat order, Naruto trudged, trying not to topple over with the heavy load on his arms. Sakura sure was a mean reader, and he struggled with the idea that this may be the worst mission yet. So far, nothing happened. Sakura remained just the same- no neck cracks, busting dance moves, and so forth out of the ordinary. After a long grueling walk down the hall, he began to think that this was all just a cruel joke that Tsunade was playing. He thought that perhaps she wanted him to suffer. First off, Sakura didn't even know who Sasuke was, and neither did he. Still, the image of Sakura wearing the mask of another girl and playing a different persona that night was implemented in his brain.

'Am I going crazy…?'

"Oy…, Naruto, hurry up over there! You're as slow as a turtle right now!" Sakura called out to the struggling boy behind her. The tall, leaning mass of books formed a tower so that she couldn't clearly see his face. Hearing this, Naruto tried to move his legs a little faster. He wobbled and waddled, and swayed from side to side until he finally tripped over to the ground, flat on his face. The books were airborne for about a second, and then toppled all over his head.

Sakura sighed. She stared at the pathetic scene in front of her- the blond boy grinning and scratching his head like an idiot on the floor. She raised her eyebrows, her arms akimbo. Few hallway lights flickered lightly. Naruto slowly stood up and tried to pick up the books.

"It's okay, I got it," he said as he stacked the books in his arms again. Watching this, Sakura knelt down and began to pick up the books as well. But instead of stacking them back in his arms, she placed a few in her arms.

"I guess I gave you too much…," she said, smiling gently at nothing while picking up the books mindlessly. "Thanks, Naruto."

"Heh…," he grinned. He had nothing to say to her. He was rather happy about it. He didn't know why, but this kept him feeling satisfied. Still, the images of two different Sakura ran through his mind. He began to stare at her cautiously, remembering Tsunade's words to keep an eye on her.

She noticed him watching her strangely.

"What's wrong with you?"

"No…. nothing," he quickly began to stack a pile of books in his arms again. He stood up abruptly and began to make a hesitant pace.

'Something's definitely up…,' she thought, watching him trot and fall apart again a few minutes later. She sighed and briefly walked up to him.

At the place where she stood before, the light above began to flicker madly. It repeated the procedure until it could barely keep up with its pattern. Soon, with a quick flash, the light went out.

* * *

"Hokage-sama, you called us?"

"I want you to go back to this place and investigate. Find out anything useful and bring the information back here, pronto! Understand?"

"Yes, hokage-sama."

* * *

"Oh, come on, Naruto. We're almost there," Sakura called out to the boy with a tower of books at the back. Truly, even though she had taken a few loads away from him, the books were still tremendously heavy and formidably tall. _So this is why they say knowledge is power_, Naruto thought as he kept on waddling along awkwardly. A small bead of sweat rolled down on his cheek, and small children, possibly from the Ninja Academy, zoomed right by him. He almost toppled over again by their speed and tiny arms and hands bumping into his legs. The air was beginning to cool. The sun was almost about to set, and the sky was dyed in mix of dark fuchsia, red, orange, and blue. The clouds were swirls of whipped cream in the colorful background. The children were shouting and laughing in front of him, and he enjoyed the calm moment. Suddenly, the shouts and laughter of the children began to become rough and rowdy.

"Ah ha ha, she's ugly! Look at her! She's an ugly girl!"

He couldn't see past the books, but the small, piping voices spat out nasty words. He heard more rowdy, scrambling noises. Finally, he dropped the books onto the ground and stared at the wretched scene in front of him. Near a small corner next to the fences and houses plastered with unimportant papers, there sat a girl with her hands covering her face. Three small boys and a girl were pulling her hair and hitting her head. The more they used their fists and nasty threats, the more the small girl cried.

"Ugly girl, why don't you stand up and fight? You can't even throw a shuriken today! You chickened out!"

_Another thwack_…

Naruto's face crumpled. Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, he began to march up to the bullying children. He was about to shout….

"Hey! What the fuck are you shitty little brats doing there?"

The bullies and the victim, surprised by the foul language and rough tone of voice, turned their chubby heads around. Not too far away from the children, but a little distant from Naruto, there stood Sakura. Her arms were crossed, and her legs were a little wide apart. Getting a grip, one spunky child gave his nose a quick rub with his thumb and crossed his arms. Quickly, the rest of the gang bullies followed the kid's behavior and sneered at her.

"Sa, Sakura-chan, what do you think you are doing?" Naruto told her as he slowly walked towards her. But suddenly, he noticed that same familiar, sinister grin on her face. His blood and body froze.

"What do you want, ugly hag?" the spunky child quipped. His back-up crew snickered and jeered at her. Oddly enough, Sakura kept her same position, same looks, the same, awful grin.

"What… did… you… say?"

"Get lost. You're just as ugly as this girl here. I mean, what's with that disgusting pink hair anyways? It looks like someone barfed out a huge chunk of bubblegum on your head, and you're wearing it as a wig!" the bully girl yelled out. The boys began to give each other hi-fives and blew a raspberry at the tall, pink haired girl's face. And then, out of nowhere, all of the sudden, the pink haired girl swiftly ran toward the bullies and punched the ground right in front of them. The earth started to rumble, and soon enough, there were huge cracks all over the place that the children once stood. Disoriented and shaken up, the children tried to restore themselves by standing up. But before they could, Sakura held the spunky boy by the collar.

"Hey, what's the big idea….!" the boy began to shout and fret. She pulled him up close to her face, just so that he could see how scary she looked at the moment.

"Now," she whispered in a lethal that could kill an innocent baby. "What… did you say to me before? Be honest~!"

Her last sentence had a sweet, girly tone, and plus, she was smiling brightly at the frightened boy. Slowly, he regained his strength and began to speak.

"You are an ugly…."

"RRRRAWWRRGGHH!!!!" she hammer threw the boy away to the distance, where the sun was about to sink into the horizon. After seeing the boy fly away, she dusted her hands, narrowed her eyes, and nimbly turned around back to the remaining children.

"Now, who is going next?" she said, turning her pretty, girlish smile into a menacing, deadly smile that began to frighten the children. Behind the scary teenager, the sun was saying its good bye in the middle of the horizon….

* * *

"Shizune, I want you to bring all of the old reports that date back about three months ago, right now!"

"But Tsunade-sama, that would take such a long time and it's hard to get the files ready…"

"Shizune, this is no laughing matter!"

"_Hai_…!"

* * *

The sky that was once dark fuchsia, red, and orange slowly metamorphosed into royal midnight blue. One by one, the stars began to show their twinkle in the darkness. The cry of the screaming children was in the air, until it was no longer heard by Naruto. He stood there for many hours, ignoring the cold air and chills on his arms. He did try to stop her from mentally torturing and dictating the children in such a tedious fashion. Still, it was fruitless. In the end, the children ran away screaming that there was a crazy chick in the village, and he ended up standing there staring blankly at her. She laughed like an evil dictator to the direction where the children ran off.

"Stupid snot-nosed brats…, they should fucking know better not to mess with me," she derided. She rubbed her nose with her index finger and yawned. Beneath her, near a dark corner, she heard a distinct whimper. It was the little girl. She was curled up into a little ball, with her face buried into her arms. She glared at the small victim strangely, and Naruto, noticing this, quickly grabbed her arms.

"Sa-Sakura-chan or whoever you are…! Don't kill that girl!" he yelled and tried to drag her away. It was effortless to even try- the strange, pink haired girl was brutally strong. She pulled herself away from his grasp and marched up to the little girl. Frightened, the small victim's cry began to grow louder. The pink haired teen slowly knelt down….

"Don't…!"

"You loser," the girl screamed. "Are you just gunna cry like that all the time when those idiots beat you up?! Huh, is that what you want them to do, you stupid crybaby?!"

The poor little girl in the corner cried so hard that she began to hiccup. The tall, menacing, pink haired girl reached into her pocket.

"No…!"

"Here," she said as she handed the little girl her handkerchief. Slowly, the small girl rubbed her red, puffy eyes and unfurled herself. She stared at the hanky and the scary woman in front of her. The pink haired girl wasn't smiling, but she didn't look intimidating right now either. Slowly, very slowly, the tiny girl reached her small hands out to the hanky. She quickly grabbed it away and blew her nose.

"Oh, don't you know how to wipe your face with it too?!" The pink haired lass impatiently snatched the hanky back and began to roughly wipe the little girl's face. The girl stopped crying and sat still. Despite the roughness, somehow, this all felt so warm and motherly.

Behind, Naruto stood there quietly, watching this all in shock. This violent, audacious, boisterous, insolent, foul-mouthed girl was actually quite… nice. Nice?! He was still confused as ever, - heck, he didn't know if it was all an act. But watching the pretty girl caring for such a tiny creature made him understand. Somehow, she knew it all along. It was all in her plan for that small child, and now it quietly revealed itself to him. It was all too innocent, brash, and time consuming, but somehow, it worked.

Behind there, still confused as ever, the blond boy smiled.

It was soon dark, and the moon hadn't made its visit yet, but the streetlight hovering above them was soon lit up brightly.

* * *

With an armful of papers and files, Shizune barged into the hokage's office, almost breathless.

"Tsunade-sama, Tsunade-sama! I've gathered all of the reports that date back three months ago!"

"Good, Shizune! Now," Tsunade said as she stood up from her desk. "It's your duty to sort and analyze them all out one by one. Make sure you make some notes if there's anything unusual in those reports, understand?"

"But…._ But!!!"_

Too late. Tsuande was already gone.

The night was becoming darker and deeper....


	4. Airi

_The night was becoming darker and deeper...._

Streetlights were brightly lit everywhere in the village. It was in every corner of the streets, emitting that warm, bright glow. The streets were less busy than usual, but still, there were people hustling around. Each house windows seemed to paint a vivid picture of families laughing and talking to each other. The stars were shining in the sky so wonderfully that Naruto had already forgotten he was sitting on a bench outside, breathing in that cool night air. He was too busy staring at the sky.

"Hey, hey…."

No answer.

_Conk! _

"Ow, what the hell was that for?!" Naruto winced in pain as he held his head. He could feel the bump rising.

"You know," the girl who sat next to him said. "Do you think that our destinies are written in the stars?"

He briefly paused for a moment. He never thought of it like that before. He never knew that she was so deep. He watched her glare at the stars stiffly, her arms still crossed. The night air was chilly.

"Are you cold or something?" he asked.

"Just answer the damn question already…!"

"Yeah, whatever…,"

"Don't "yeah, whatever" me!!!"

Another _conk_….

Naruto heaved in pain, trying to hold himself down. He growled and glared at her, but she shot a glare back. He rolled his eyes and looked away, resting his chin on his elbow. More stars were shining through the pitch darkness.

"Hey you…"

"It's Haruka," she growled. He sighed. He was exasperated with this shenanigan already.

"You know what," he abruptly stood up in a small fit of rage. "Why don't you just quit it?"

"Quit what?"

"Quit being Haruka and just go back to Sakura already!" he shouted. She sniffed and sneered at him.

"Yeah? Do you think that I can quit bein' who I am, you dumb shit? Who do you think I am, huh? Who?"

He kept the sulky silence. Noticing this, she tried to comfort him.

"Look, Sakura or whatever that wimpy bitch's name is… she's safe, alright? She's someone that I'll protect. After all, this is my body too…."

"Where did you come from?"

"Where did you come from what? Did you already forget the rules, kid?" she said, reminding him those painful lessons. He gulped with strands of his hairs sticking up.

"Where did you come from…., Haruka….sama?" he gritted painfully. She sneered again.

"That's better. I'm not sure where I really came from. I think I've always been here. Anyways, ever since three months ago or so…. I was bored, so I decided to loosen up a bit. Tell you what; I'm already gettin' kinda bored. Why don't you go an' buy me some cigs, won't ya?"

Shocked, Naruto started to wave his hands in panic.

"But what about Sakura-chan…!"

"Get some or I'll go an' get some myself. Who knows, I'll meet up some hot guys on the way…"

"I'll go!" he shouted, trying to suppress his feelings. He marched off to the nearest store. Watching him go slowly, she clicked her tongue and tapped on one foot. She was _that_ impatient.

"Hurry up, you damn freak!" she yelled, and quickly threw her shoe to his head. Her aim was so perfect; in less than a second, there was a wham.

"Grr, one of these days….," Naruto growled as he began to jog away while rubbing his sore head. Behind him, Haruka jeered and cackled.

* * *

"So this is the place that the hokage-sama mentioned, huh?"

"Let's split up and look around."

The ANBU ninjas wandered around carefully through the barren field. It was a wasteland, heavy with thick fog that could be sliced with a sword. There was barely any vegetation around, or any signs of living creatures. They carefully searched around the land, examining the rubbles and the ruined soil.

"Hey, come over here!"

The rest of the ninjas quickly ran to the sound of this voice. It was hard to distinguish where the voices were coming from since it echoed everywhere through the empty field. However not so far away, they saw two ninjas gathered around.

"What's going on?"

"Come take a look at this." One ninja picked up a small frail piece of paper off the ground. It was hard to make out what it said since the paper seemed to be a part of a letter. Also, the ink was somewhat smudged, possibly because it was written on the paper too quickly and didn't have enough time to dry.

Though the written subscribtions were hardly readable, they were able to recognize one simple sign on the useless looking paper- a perfectly small smudged circle.

* * *

Grinding his teeth, Naruto came back to the bench with a pack of cigarette. The silent light shone down upon the lonely wooden bench beside a tree. The stars were still twinkling, but there was no sign of Haruka.

"Damn, now where did she go…," Naruto muttered as he pushed the cigarette pack into his pocket. In panic, he ran to the left and shouted her name out loud to the sky.

About a few feet away from where he once stood, cusses and shouts were about to be exchanged in an ally.

"Kneel down, idiots! You guys owe me tons of stuff!"

She was holding a beer bottle in one hand, and made a fist with the other. Haruka angrily stared at the two teenage boys who sneered back at her.

"We don't owe you anything, girl," one teenage boy shouted. The other one trilled.

"Just run back to wherever you came from, bitch," the other boy said. They both burst out a laugh. Haruka was steamed. Her face was becoming ripe red, and she tightened her grip on the bottle. Finally, in a burst of rage, she smashed the bottle on the brick wall and pointed the broken ends to the two boys. She grinded her teeth and glared at them with her piercing jade colored eyes.

The laughs were gone, and only silence crept in the darkness.

"Last time, you guys said that you'd give me money for a full out buffet if I helped you beat up some guys. I did that! Now, cough up the dough or else! That's all I'll take."

"Look, ugly. We don't owe you anything at all. You could've refused the offer, but instead, you decided to beat them up. Let me recap- we said that you can 'beat them up if you want to….'"

"Fuck you and your fucking recaps! This wasn't the first time since you did this! Now you're gunna pay!!!" And with that, Haruka leaped into the air and swiftly kicked one boy down. She started to pummel him.

"Now say your pathetic prayers. I'm gonna cut up this ugly face of yours," she whispered, and was about to thrash the broken bottle onto the boy's head. The other free boy in panic, slowly reached out to a trash can lid that leaned next to the brick wall. Getting a grip, he abruptly smashed the heavy metal lid onto her head.

_Wham!!!_

The broken glass soon dropped out of her hand….

_Tink! Tink…. _

* * *

"Damn, where the hell is she?!" Naruto shouted. Even if he didn't want to admit it, he was worried about Haruka. That violent girl was tough and could beat up a hundred men –or more- if she wanted to. Still, it was quite odd to see that she was nowhere out of his sight. He couldn't hear her boisterous, brash voice yelling out from the distance. Her light pink hair, which stood out from the distance and can be distinguished from the darkness and crowd, wasn't anywhere. He bit his lips and ruffled his hair. He did search a lot of places where he suspected that she would go, but she wasn't there. Still unable to find her, he decided to return back to the bench. Perhaps she was there waiting for her pack of smoke…

"Run for it, and don't tell anyone what happened!" he heard a boy shout. There were two teenage boys, running. One was covered in bruises, and the other one was splattered in blood. The scene was too strange, and by intuition, Naruto stopped them by grabbing them quickly by the collar.

"What the hell are you guys running from?" he growled. They cowered in fear and began to shake. Naruto tightened his grip. It nearly choked them.

"I… I… please don't kill me! I swear that I didn't do anything wrong! I just smashed her head with a metal lid and the bitch….!"

"Who was it?!"

"… The pink haired bitch!" the other blood soaked boy began to cry. "It… it wasn't me! It was him, right here! He did it!"

"What do you mean by that?! I didn't do anything, I swear! I got beaten up by her! You liar…! You hit her so many times with that metal lid! You dirty son of a…!"

"Where is she?!" he growled. "I can beat you guys up a thousand times worse than she can. You better show me the way or else….!"

Still cowering in fear, the two boys sobbed and pointed to the direction. Dragging them by the collars, their feet creating a trail of hot dust, Naruto ran towards the ally.

* * *

"So what do you think the circle means…?"

"Don't you think it reminds you of the sharingan or the Uchiha crest…?"

"You think that this has anything to do with his disappearance?"

"It could… I mean, they've fought here before, didn't they?"

_"…?!"_

* * *

She was lying on the cold asphalt ground right next to the dumpster in the ally. The frail ends of the plastered posters made annoying flapping noises as the wind passed by. The brick walls were solemn and formidable as ever, using their shadows as a blanket to cover the blood soaked ground. The timid moon that hid itself behind the swirls of coal colored clouds finally made its appearance. It shone its light down upon the two boys and Naruto, staring at the pink haired girl's back.

"Sakura…chan…," he whispered. Still, there was no answer. He slowly walked to her, his lips tight as ever. The two boys began to cry louder.

The moon quickly shrouded itself in the black clouds.

He picked her head up gently. Her blood was still warm, and her eyes were closed so that he couldn't see her menacing green eyes. She lived as Sakura, but died as Haruka….

He hated that idea.

"Hey, Sakura-chan…! Wake up," he said to her gently. He began to shake her. Still, no response came out.

"It's my fault," the two boys heard him say. His back was facing them, so they couldn't see how his reactions were like. They could never know how he had his eyes closed, or how he gritted his teeth and grabbed onto her hands tighter and tighter….

The moon appeared again brighter than ever.

"Uhh….," he heard a weak groan. The two boys stopped crying, and their eyes widened.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto whispered. Her eyelids reluctantly began to rise. He could see the pretty shades of green again.

"Sakura-chan…!" he shouted.

"I can't feel my hand….," she weakly whispered.

"Huh..?"

"My hand… you're holding on to it too tight." Realizing this, he quickly let go of the grip. She rose up and rubbed her head.

"What just happened?" she asked as she looked around the surroundings, dazed and confused.

"No-nothing, girl, so please don't hurt us!!!" the two boys yelled in unison, and with that, they made their dash.

She cocked her head slightly.

"Who were they?"

"Eh, Don't you remember anything about them?"

She shook her head silently. The wind blew again, dancing with the rustling leaves and scrap pieces of paper.

Just like the moon, she beamed at him, smiling sweetly.

"Hi, I'm Airi," she said as she timidly played with her hair and gathered her knees together.


	5. The Start of Strange

"_Who were they?"_

"_Eh, don't you remember anything about them?"_

_She shook her head silently. The wind blew again, dancing with the rustling leaves and scrap pieces of paper._

_Just like the moon, she beamed at him, smiling sweetly._

"_Hi, I'm Airi," she said as she timidly played with her hair and gathered her knees together._

* * *

Bewildered, he shook his head. No way, he thought. _No way…._

But whoever this Airi character that Sakura was now playing, she seemed sweeter than Haruka.

"Are you alright? You look pale as a ghost," she said, gently touching her soft, fair hands on his rough skinned cheek. "You're also sweaty."

He tried to speak, but nothing was coming out. His lips shuttered. With her kind, emerald eyes, she stared at him with worry. He stared back at her as if she was some kind of an extraterrestrial creature that fell from another planet.

"Ehhh?! Who the hell are you now?!"

"I'm Airi," she said again sweetly with a smile. "It's nice to meet you. Say, haven't I seen you before?"

He gulped. Suddenly, feeling something wet slither down her head, Airi's brows went up. Wondering what it was, she touched the side of her head with her right hand and then stared at it.

Blood. Deep, crimson red _blood_….

"Kyaaa!!!" Her scream pierced through the cold night air.

"What, what?" Naruto started to shout in panic. He tried not to panic, but somehow, seeing three different girls in one body in a day made him feel a little shaken up.

"Blood…," she quivered. The girl started to shiver and dropped to the ground on her knees. "Blood….!"

Seeing the poor thing curl up into a ball, he bent down and tried to reassure her.

"It's okay. It's just your blood," he said. He reached deep into his pocket and rummaged around it until he found a small tissue paper. It was crumpled, but clean and unused. He tried to hand the tissue, but she was still shaking madly. Her eyes, her hands, her lips….

He sighed quietly and touched her face softly. She was startled, but soon calmed down after he began to wipe the blood away from her.

"Don't you know any medical jutsu to heal yourself?"

She shook her head, not knowing what to do. Figures. She couldn't even wipe the blood away herself, let alone even trying to do something about it.

He decided to walk her home. She was an awkward girl. She spoke quietly and carefully, almost as if she was afraid of being slapped by a stranger. For the most of the time, she had her hands gathered together. She took tiny steps when she walked and had her head down most of the times, though her eyes wandered around like a child in a toy store. She kept her manners clean, and tried to be kind to him. She was nothing like Haruka or Sakura.

"The stars are quite pretty tonight, isn't it? _Ne_?" she asked, raising her head slightly. It was a lonely night, and she felt the need to talk.

"Yeah, I guess," he muttered.

"Sometimes, I don't know how it happens, but when I close my eyes and reopen them again, I'm outside in the dark. It's all quite strange. Or I'm somewhere else without realizing it. Isn't it odd?"

The night air was always brief, but cool.

"It's always just a blur to me," she continued. "Everything is in motion. I feel like I'm on motion sickness…., something like that. It all fades and I'm left standing alone in the middle of the night again, trying to find my way home. But where is home? Do I even have one? I don't know that myself. Not so clearly… I think that the other 'me's' know where I live, probably."

"Other 'me's'?' he said in realization. "You mean, you know?"

She nodded. "I don't know if they know me, but I know them. Not so clearly, I might add."

He stared at her, and realizing this, she blushed and hid her face from him by walking further away.

"Am I bothering you?" she said, still not facing him.

"No," he replied. She turned back and smiled. She was so innocent, so sweet.

"Do I know you? I think I've known you from somewhere…"

"That's impossible; I've never met you before," he said, shrugging all of the possibilities away.

"Do you know my other sisters then?"

"Sisters?"

"That's right-sisters," she proudly claimed. "You know, the other 'me's.' I think of them as my sisters. It is strange, I know, but still, I like to fondly think of them as my sisters. I have no one in the world, and the only people that are with me are within me. I thought that I only have myself to take care of, but I suppose not."

The silent wind crept through the village streets again, rattling the leaves loose from the trees.

"So you said your name's Airi?" he asked.

"That's right. I'm Airi, and I'm a thousand years old."

"Heeeh?!?!?!!!"

"Just kidding!" she said, and then burst out the laughter she had been hiding for a while. So childish…

He sighed. "How old are you really then?"

"Gee, you will think that I'm so old," Airi muttered. "I'm eighteen, and nearly nineteen."

"But that's impossible. Sakura-chan's only seventeen…."

"Sakura? Is that my other sister's name?" she cocked her head slightly.

"Yeah…," he spoke quietly.

The moon was still full and bright.

* * *

"Is that so…?"

Naruto nodded. With her watchful eyes, Tsunade stared at him with disbelief. Was this a sign, or a curse? She couldn't believe it still.

But she needed to make a decision quickly. The boy was standing right in front of her, and she was running out of time. She was betting against time, and it felt as if she was losing. She was going to lose Sakura this time, her apprentice.

"Alright," she said with a confirmed tone. "Keep a good eye on her. Tell me anything you know about these two girls, understand?"

"Yeah…," Naruto answered. But before he could go, she called him forward.

"Come closer," she handed him a plastic bag containing a frail, thin paper inside. He took it and gave a close examination. _A perfectly small smudged circle_….

"Know anything about this?"

"Nope," he shook his head. Then, he was dismissed.

* * *

For weeks, Sakura was absent.

When he walked about and wandered, Ino finally told him that she was sick.

It was a strange kind of illness though. It couldn't be called an illness at all either. Sakura was at her house, for sure, but was asleep for weeks.

Somehow, Naruto kind of felt glad that she wasn't there. He felt rotten, of course, but his brain was frazzled from those three 'sisters' (he decided to call them 'sisters' to lessen the confusion).

At night, he was waiting to fall asleep. He tried to force himself to go to sleep. Still, sleep never made its visit to his eyes, nor did it put illusions in his mind. Was he tired? He wondered why he was asking that question to himself. He should've known, but he didn't.

Night was growing deeper, and the street lights were beginning to grow brighter from its dimness. From afar, he heard shouts growing louder and louder until it reached his street.

"Stop messin' with our street, you got that?"

And then, a familiar voice…

"So what? It's not like y'all got your name stuck on it."

Naruto jumped out of his bed from hearing the sound and ran to his window. From the dark, his eyes searched about until he saw them. The street lights were their spotlights, but only one girl stood out to him from the stage of asphalt and few litter. Under the street light, the lights glossed and polished over her black leather jacket. She was wearing tight combat boots strapped with silver buckles and small studs and spikes. Still, it was too dark to see her in detail. However, he did grasp a glimpse of the color of her hair, in the name of tea rose.

'Sakura…!' he ran out of his room in panic, still in his pj's.

* * *

Me: I'm sorry for not updating and not writing a longer, more interesting chapter. I'm having a bit of trouble these days, but don't worry because it's not that serious. Oh, but I do have a question (sorry again). What's Story Alert? -.-;;;

Thank you and see you ^^


	6. 998

_Naruto jumped out of his bed from hearing the sound and ran to his window. From the dark, his eyes searched about until he saw them. The street lights were their spotlights, but only one girl stood out to him from the stage of asphalt and few litter. Under the street light, the lights glossed and polished over her black leather jacket. She was wearing tight combat boots strapped with silver buckles and small studs and spikes. Still, it was too dark to see her in detail. However, he did grasp a glimpse of the color of her hair, in the name of tea rose._

'_Sakura…!' he ran out of his room in panic, still in his pj's._

* * *

There was calmness in the air, but it was almost as if it was stiff, unstirred. When Naruto barged out of his door, he stood there, just like the rest of them. First, there was Sakura standing in front of him. Turning left, he saw a group of girls in long jackets and flight suits, each holding a bat in their hands. Sakura had no weapons.

He pulled her to the side quickly.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?!" he whispered to her ears sharply. Without much concern, she gave a short "Feh" and dug into her ear with her pinkie. He was baffled.

"But…Sakura-chan!"

"Hello, dipstick," she replied back, keeping her eyes on the gang of girls.

"You…!" Naruto shouted.

"It's been a while," she said casually. "Now go back or I'll beat you."

"Hey Haruka," yelled the girl in long white jacket in the front center. "Who's that, your boyfriend?!"

Snickers ran through the group, until it grew louder and louder. Haruka just stayed still while letting Naruto tug her arms.

"Stop causing troubles!" Naruto whispered to her. Suddenly, Haruka dropped her head. He couldn't exactly see her eyes, but he saw her draw that same awful grin once more.

"You mofo brats just can't get enough, huh?" Haruka quipped.

The laughter stopped abruptly.

"You mess with us, we deal with you, bitch!" the girl in white spat. Behind, the girls started to make random shouts that became a unified chant. They held their bats up in the air and swung it around wildly. Feeling brave, Kasumi took a stick of gum and popped it in her mouth.

"Saku… I mean, Haruka!"

"Leave it to me," she whispered to him, and then shouted to the rest of the gang, "I bet I can beat you losers with one hand."

They laughed and rioted.

"As if," the girl in white scoffed.

"Well, how much do you wanna bet, ugly Kasumi? I can see that you have a lot of cash in your left pocket there."

Gritting her teeth, the girl in white called Kasumi dug her hand into her left pocket, money scrunching like a pile of thin scraps of metal.

"You're on- I'm gonna make you shithead pay!"

"Bring it on, then," Haruka said calmly. She took off the large, dark sunglasses that she wore and tucked it inside her leather jacket.

"Haruka!!" Naruto shouted, but before he knew it, she pulled her arm away from him and was reluctantly walking away.

Kasumi sneered, then cocked her head toward Haruka quickly and narrowed her eyes. The girls, riled up and packed with energy, charged up to her with their swinging bats and wild grins.

Haruka steadily walked. One by one, they were coming closer and closer.

"Haruka!" Naruto shouted. He was about to witness her fall again. He couldn't let that happen. He was going to take a step to run, but stopped.

There was no need to run.

There was no need to do anything at all. Walking in a straight line and within few seconds, Haruka's open hand sharply hit each of the girl's pressure points. One by one, they fell to the ground like cut down trees, either paralyzed or grunting in pain. Her movements were so fluid and breathtaking- it was almost like art. At last, Haruka had finally reached to Kasumi in less than three minutes.

"Ye-yeah, well, they were all weak lil' bitches!" Kasumi shouted, though there was a bit of tremble in her voice at the end. She held her bat tightly, her fingers visibly shaking.

Haruka walked closer and closer.

"Get back or I'll hurt you!" Kasumi shouted once more, though those words felt so half empty.

Haruka stopped, but then continued taking another step, this time, much slower.

Kasumi gnashed her teeth. She was chewing bitterly, the sticky pink lines showing each time she chewed. With each step Haruka took, Kasumi's chewing grew louder. She was ripping her gum apart, murdering it to calm her nerves.

Finally, Kasumi swung her bat and surprisingly, Haruka caught it in her hand. She held it firmly for a few seconds, enjoying Kasumi's struggle of trying to pull it away. But soon enough, there was a crack, and the bat's tip snapped off.

"You broke my bat, bitch!" Kasumi shouted. Haruka smirked, throwing the tip of the bat up in the air and letting it land in her hand. After a few more, she tossed the tip away and bent over to Kasumi's left ear.

"You either pay up and run or fight like a real chick," Haruka whispered. Beads of sweat rolled down on Kasumi's face. Nevertheless, she furrowed her brows and made two tight fists.

"Arrrgh!!!" Kasumi shouted and quickly punched Haruka to her stomach. From the distance, Naruto could see the spot of tea rose cascading down to the ground.

"Sakura!!!" he shouted. Kasumi cackled and and sighed.

"I win…," Kasumi said. At the ground, Haruka was kneeling in front of her. Kasumi was about to finish the game by kicking her pretty face- that disgusting face that she always despised. Just then, there was a powerful strike to the outside of her thighs. Kasumi yelped and fell to the ground.

Haruka smirked.

"What the hell….!" Kasumi shouted, but before she could even finish, Haruka swiftly jumped up and kicked Kasumi in the face. She flung backward, caught off guard. She skidded down the street, feeling the friction between her body and the cold, jaggged battlefield. When she finally halted to a stop, she sat up. The back of her jacket was clawed and scratched by the asphalt. Her head was spinning. She felt something trickle down from her nose. Kasumi wiped it with her sleeve and saw blood.

"You broke my nose, fucking skank!" Kasumi yelled. "And you cheated, you piece of shit! You said that you would use only one hand!!!"

Haruka walked over to her defeated enemy, and then bent her back down. She was seeing Kasumi's face in full.

"I did," Haruka replied calmly. "But only because you didn't fight like a real dirty chick. You fought like a real dirty slut down at the bars."

Kasumi was burning red.

"What?! Why you!"

With one finger, Haruka poked the tip of her head and smiled sweetly like a doll.

"Good night," she said, and Kasumi eyes rolled away to her forehead. She fell backwards to the ground.

"By the way, that didn't hurt, bitch," Haruka muttered and rummaged inside of her leather jacket. Sunglasses and one stick of cigarette. She held one end of the sunglasses' leg and flicked it open. Smoothly, she put it on and jabbed the joint into her lips. This time again, she fumbled through the pockets of her navy tights and found her lighter. She flickered it a couple of times, twisting the silver disk with her thumb. At last, the light came with a tick and she burned the end of the joint, smoking like a pro.

Baffled, Naruto ran to her and began to talk in gibberish. She quickly shut his jabbering mouth with her hand.

"Umph!"

"Be quiet," Haruka said, drawing the joint out of her mouth with smoke following the end of its tail.

"Fine," Naruto removed her hands and spoke. "But why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you doing this if you said you want to protect Sakura-chan?"

"Because," she said again, placing the joint between her lips. "I have my own reasons."

"Hey…!"

"This is her body, but right now, I'm in control. I can do whatever I want because right now, this is my body!"

"…?!"

* * *

After safely sending Haruka away, Naruto went to his room. He lied down on his bed, wondering what this all meant. Nothing seemed to add up. First of all, why were there Haruka and Airi? Or was Sakura never really Sakura? Perhaps Sakura was really born as either Haruka or Airi, but that still didn't make sense. Why, of all times, was she Sakura until now or prior to those three months?

Three months… yes, three months. Three wasn't a big number, but adding seconds, minutes, hours, days, and weeks made months. Months could add up to years and so forth. How long will she be this way or that way?

He wondered what could've happened those three months. Shikamaru said that they were on a mission that included chunins and jonins, but he could remember nothing of the sort. When he woke up, Hinata was right next to him in the hospital. Tsunade mentioned something about Sasuke, and he didn't have a clue of who that person was.

Tirelessly wondering and without knowing, he drifted off into the dream land.

Blur. Then more blur. Another blur. Red blur. Pink blur. Navy blur. White blur. An autumn leaf? Flowers? The sky? Houses? Blur. One two three… three two one. Birds. Birds. Dark blur. A fuzz. A cry. Then a cry.

Another cry.

_"Sasuke…. Don't side with that bastard!" _

Faint blur. Cut to another clip.

_Tears…?_

_"Naruto… Naruto…! Don't! Don't…." _

_"I'll have it once I do this. Then, I will kill you." _

_"Why, Sasuke…?! Of all the people… of all!"_

_"I have to." _

_"Then… then, I'll kill you!" _

_"He's nobody now! Nobody…!" _

Dark blur. Another cut and snip. Then re-clip.

Dark and light.

_"Naruto… Naruto… Don't! Don't…" _

A cry? Blood. Fall to knees. Death.

Sword plunge.

_"No…!!!" _

A shriek.

Words cannot be taken back or erased. No matter what. Never.

A scar. And then another one blooms.

_"I win…. I…!" _

Vanish.

Dark blur. Faint. More faint. Very faint. Ray of light stung his eyes. He tried to block them with his arms. Feeling the movement of his body and the silent chirps growing ever so louder, he sprang up from his bed. He found that his body was drenched in sweat.

"Whew," he sighed. It was only a dream. His shirt was stuck on his body from sticky sweat. Feeling hot, he removed the shirt and climbed out of his bed.

"I guess a shower will do," he said. He was walking steadily toward the bathroom.

The tall, rectangular mirror placed behind him depicted a lithe boy with two slash marks on his back. He never noticed it, and silently went in to take a shower.

The door closed, and so did the door depicted on the mirror.

* * *

Books, and then some. Sometimes, it felt like she couldn't get enough of them. She loved to read. Sometimes, Ino teased her about it, often making a conclusion about the books and her forehead. Simply put, she was a nerdy brainiac. Yes, she did become angry, but rather, that anger dissolved anyhow once she saw books again.

Haruno Sakura held books tightly to her chest and was walking home. She just came from the library. These days, Tsunade wasn't calling her for missions, but rather for more intense medical training. Sometimes, it was about the 'evaluations,' though it was strange that she received them. The 'evaluations' were usually tedious, sometimes even irritating to the point where she wanted to run and jump out the window. Tsunade asked her too many questions, and although Sakura liked quizzes, there were questions that she couldn't answer.

More of those evaluations were held later that afternoon. She sighed in grief, hoping that at least once, those evaluations would cancel.

At least a good walk will help me, she thought. She was thinking of taking the long road home. She wanted fresh air. Lately, she felt stiff. She never trained her body too much, but somehow and always, her body felt tired. Her muscles were aching, and strangely, her clothes and breath smelled of alcohol and smoke. Strangely though, she felt healthier than ever.

Walking forward with a smile, suddenly, she noticed something odd. At the distance, near a path where many trees resided, she saw someone in a dark monk's robe. She couldn't see the face of this stranger because he was wearing a hood pulled all the way down to the half of his face.

Strange, but I feel like I've seen that somewhere…. She thought and narrowed her brows down. Her crystal clear emerald eyes became misty, trying to search through the files of familiar faces.

Strange… strange…

And then, another voice.

_What are you waiting for? Don't you want to find it out? It'll be fun like last time._

_Huh…? Who said that?_

_Me, of course. _

_…What?_

She could feel her pulse beating hard like hammer beating down on a nail. Beating. Beating. There was a silent hum behind her, but when she turned around, there was nothing. But the hum continued, and began to grow louder and louder until she became one with the hum…

The sun. It was too hot. She slumped down to the ground, dropping her books that she held so closely to her chest. She scattered them away on the pathway and then held her heart. The beat, the rhythm. It was suddenly out of control, erratic.

And then, a blink and blankness, drawing in black…..

* * *

The stranger in dark robes was walking fast, as if he was sliding across the muddy tracks and broken path of twigs. He was deep in the woods. Few more steps and there, he will escape from the light. He had to find a place reside in, a place full of darkness. This path full of trees was only adequate enough to cross about.

At the front, he saw a foot reach out from the bushes, cutting his way.

"Looking for some place?" she said to him. He stopped. The face underneath the black smock smirked.

Squirrels gathered around and scurried away. Crows gliding and swaying from the wind found their place to perch on the dead branches of the evergreen trees. Soon, a group gathered around and began to caw erratically. Irritated, the stranger hissed, and without further ado, the crows scurried away to another place somewhere in the sky.

Haruka cocked her head curiously and furrowed her brows, her arms akimbo. Her grin was made of amusement and a hint of contempt.

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" she said. There was a pause. The sounds of insects buzzing and croaks of the frogs had died out. The sunrays were peaking through the small gaps between the trees.

His smirk was withdrawn into a plain line. He walked again. She spread her arms and made a short stomp to the front.

"Didn't I?"

"Maybe…. But it's quite spiteful to see you again," he replied quietly, making another smirk. She scoffed.

"Again? What do you mean by that?"

"Ah, so you don't remember me well, do you Sakura-san?"

Haruka gritted her teeth.

"Just what the fuck is so great about that bitch?! Sakura this, Sakura that! I'm the great mother fucking Haruka so get that straight, damn it!!!"

The stranger stood there in silence, while Haruka kept breathing in and out heavily. There was no sound of nature- just two strangers out in the field, watching each other in cold distance.

The stranger smiled in amusement. He raised his hands and started to clap slowly. After finishing the rounds of claps, he laughed maniacally. Annoyed, Haruka tightened her teeth and glared at him with an evil glaze of green.

"Great job, Sakura-san, you have truly become a demon indeed since the last time I saw you. Are you still wrapped in guilt and shame? Have you changed because of that and Sasuke-kun?"

"Sasuke?" Haruka said. The name rang a bell. _Where and when did I hear that name before…?_

"My, it's even a greater shame to know that you've forgotten your beloved Sasuke-kun, Sakura-san."

Haruka raised her head. Her ears were perked, and her eyes were burning in rage.

"The name is…," Haruka said, and then jumped up in the air to strike. "Haruka!!!!"

The stranger stood still, enjoying every minute of her contempt. When she was almost near with her fists, he moved away in quick speed. It was almost as if he disappeared.

'Huh…?' Haruka's punch had landed to the ground. The earth cracked and crumbled loudly, its hidden animals scurrying off in fear.

"Still not as quick as ever, heh," the stranger grinned. He was further away from her. But he was caught off guard when Haruka used her fist in the ground as a stabilizer. She then quickly did a backward summersault in the air and landed a kick right to his chest.

"Oof!!!" he yelled, rolling down the hills until his back hit a slanted tree. Haruka breathed heavily.

"Don't screw with me!" she yelled. "I want some answers. I know that I've seen you somewhere before. Your vibe is filthy. I know I've felt this before, so fess it up. My instincts never lie."

The stranger stood up in a swaying motion, trying to grasp his balance. Her kick really did a trick, for he was starting to cough up blood and gasping for air. But from afar, she could see that he was grinning like an insane person.

"What are you, a masochist?!"

He began to laugh hysterically. His laughter chilled her spine and the air that was already polluted by his sinister deeds.

"We'll see each other again," he said. He fumbled through his dark robe and pulled out a large yellow tag written in red scribbles. He slapped it onto the slanted tree behind him and jumped away in quick speed.

"Hey…!" Haruka yelled and tried to chase after him, but it was too late.

_Boom!_

* * *

"Hokage-sama, come take a look at this!"

"What is it," Tsunade said unenthusiastically. Staying in the office day and night made her back stiff and temper shorter. The ninja in front of her kneeled down on one knee then yelled again.

"This morning, we found two of our chunins killed."

"What?!" Tsunade rose from her desk quickly, ignoring the sudden strain on her back.

"But that's not all- their heads had been wiped clean and taken away, along with their hearts!"

"Take me there!"

"Yes, ma'am,"

Just then, another ninja entered.

"Hokage-sama! There was an explosion today near the wooded areas, and now there's fire spreading near the houses because of that!"

"What…?!" Tsunade gritted. Is this an invasion, she thought. But it would be strange to have two chunin ninjas decapitated and mutilated.

"Take me to the murder scene first."

"Yes, ma'am," the two ninjas said in unison.

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled at his old teacher. Somehow, he seemed to be in a hurry.

"Hey, Naruto," Kakashi replied, but was making a run. Naruto followed along.

"What's going on? Why are the chunins and jonins rushing to?"

"There's an emergency," he replied. "There were two chunins killed, and an explosion near the wooded areas."

"What?!" Naruto furrowed his brows.

"Naruto, do something for me- go to the explosion site first. I have to run to the murder scene. Maybe you can help out with something there. Follow those groups of ninjas there. They are heading toward the explosion site."

"Roger," Naruto said and headed to another direction.

--------

The fire was tremendous. Groups of ninjas gathered around, some using water jutsu techniques to put out the fire, while others using their strength or other techniques. Everyone was in use.

"Naruto, summon the toads!"

"Yamato-taichou?" Naruto said, staring at the man bringing huge waterfall down the burning trees.

"Hurry!"

"Alright," Naruto gathered his hands, performing the hand seals. Then using his own blood, he pounded his flat palm to the ground.

"Summoning jutsu!"

With a sudden smoke of clouds, Gamakichi appeared.

"Yo," the huge frog said, waving his amphibian hand.

"Hey, I need you to do me a favor. Can you use some kind of jutsu to put out this fire?"

"Uh, sure," Gamakichi answered, alarmed by the overwhelming heat. "Water release: bullet technique!"

A sphere of water formed in Gamakichi's mouth. It grew larger until he finally projected it to the fire. Multiple more came later on.

Suddenly, they heard a yelp.

"That sounded like Sakura-chan," Naruto said. The blazing fire wildly danced and trilled in front of them, trying to distract whoever heard the scream.

But they heard a faint cough, then another faint yelp that echoed throughout the blaze.

"Sakura-chan…!" Naruto said. "Gamakichi, cover for me!"

"Yeah, sure… wait, you're going to go in there?! It's too dangerous!!!"

"Don't worry, I've got a plan," Naruto said seriously. Gamakichi gulped.

--------

Wandering around helplessly, the teenage girl was caught up in the moment of brilliant blaze. Everywhere she went; there was another group of fire. Fire, fire… dancing wildly around her, beckoning her to jump into the wildness.

She didn't know what happened. All she remembered was that there was a bright flash of light and then a blackout. Her mind was spinning at the speed of light. When she woke up, she felt hot. Her eyes were wide open, her hands trembling. Fire, fire, burning bright….

It was hard for her to walk. She found out that her left arm and her right leg was broken when she tried to stand up. She decided to crawl. _So this is what fear is like…_

She had to try to be quick. Often times, the burning trees fell in her path, from sideways to the front and back. Air was escaping from her lips and her nose. Many times she tried to hold her breath and crawl faster, but still, the attempts were futile. She was still heading towards nowhere.

_Am I gonna die…? _

She laid down on the muddy track, feeling the heat sweep over her body. The fire was spiteful and out of control, crossing its way to anything it wanted. Even the slightest touch from its fingers had killed anything. She watched small creatures die with flames riding on their backs, their large dark chocolate eyes' smoldering and losing its twinkle. She wondered if she would die like that.

The fire was drawing closer to her, enjoying her suffering. It was savoring the moment, slowly, patiently crawling up to her with rhythmic flow.

"Sakura-chan!"

_Am I hearing things….?_

"Sakura-chan!!!"

_The voice of that dipstick…? _

"Sakuraaa!!!"

_But… I'm Haruka…right?_

_Rasengan…!_

Suddenly, there was another explosion that strangely released cool and hot air.

Without a warning, drops of water came pouring down from the sky. Her fingers twitched slightly, feeling the coolness of water. Water… she felt so grateful to see it again.

"Great job, Gamakichi! Keep shooting the water balls to the sky!" she heard the voice shout. She raised her fading eyes up. There was a huge water ball that split into millions and billions of drops of water. She stuck out her tongue slowly. How long had she been there? Perhaps hours?

"Sakura-chan," he said, seeing her lying face down to the ground. He turned her over and held her.

From the heat, she blinked slowly, later, her eyes engaged to his face. He didn't notice her watching him at all.

Had he always looked that way? She never noticed the other side of his face, the bone structure and those blazing blue eyes drawing in the unknown feelings of the deep. His hair was the color of a golden wheat field, shining brilliantly from the fusion of orange, red, yellow, and wisps of intense white.

He turned back to her, and she was caught off guard. She gasped and then choked on air, coughing horribly from the thick smoke.

"Sakura-chan, are you alright?" he asked, shaking her. The pair of her jade green eyes faltered and slightly turned away, narrowly escaping his look.

"Sakura…? Is that all I am?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

She pushed him away with her useful hand.

"I don't need you," she muttered. "I don't need anyone."

She tried to crawl away again, but collapsed from the shooting pain. Naruto held her wrist and pulled her in to his chest.

"Are you crazy?! Hang on!" he scolded, and carried her away from the closing fire and nearly collapsing trees. Gamakichi followed them after.

She felt the warmth of his body. Human warmth- it was the warmest feeling that she could receive. She had never been carried by anyone like that before. She locked her fingers into his shirt and curled in.

"You okay? You're kind of red," Naruto said. Indeed, her cheeks were like little blossoming Japanese Quinces.

"Shut up and keep running," Haruka pouted, fidgeting with her hands from not knowing what to do. Finally, she crossed her arms and sucked in air in her mouth, bloating her cheeks.

"Huh, it must be from the fire. Why were you out here all alone anyways, Haruka?"

"Huh…? You know that it's me?"

"Well, yeah," he muttered. He wanted to say _of course it's you. You're the only one who would ever get into these kinds of situations._ But he didn't. He was too busy running.

He realized that it was her when she immediately pushed him away and tried to stubbornly move by her own. Haruka seemed like the obvious choice.

He ran faster, wanting freedom from this insuffocating prison.

As for Haruka, she fell into a deep sleep in his arms.

* * *

"How long have they been here?" Tsunade asked, cringing at the sight of blood and the smell of rotting, mutilated bodies.

"About at least one week or so," answered one male ninja, finishing a quick autopsy with Shizune. He stood up. "I think that this one is Taro and this one is Kana. They were M.I.A for a while."

The heads of the victims were cut clean like dandelions on the field. They had no necks either, but just a small stump that was punctured and dug in quickly. They realized that the hearts of those victims had been pulled out by using the stump as the entrance. Tiny little heart pieces were scattered on the ground.

Shizune still kneeled down, unfolding and folding the hands of the dead.

"Strange. Why are their hearts removed through their necks?" she asked herself quietly.

"We've even searched their homes a week before, but there was nobody there. We've searched the entire Konoha area too…"

"But who could've suspected that they would be here?" a girl ninja said. The team of ninjas and Tsunade in front stared at the tiny room disguised as a cave hidden in the middle of the forest, their eyes wide open.

All was still….

"Anything else?" Tsunade said, clearing her throat to break the stiffness of the air.

"Wait… there's more," Shizune said as she carefully removed the flak jackets of the two corpses. But then, Shizune froze too, her eyes growing wider, her jaws dropping.

In curiosity, Tsunade and her team closed in, their eyes suddenly growing wider than ever.

On their chests, '998 more' was carved in neatly.


End file.
